8.4.1.1. Working with the CDDB

Why is it called "ripping?"   The practice of extracting music from an audio CD to a digital audio file on your hard drive is called "ripping." Why? Because audio CDs don't use a filesystem corresponding to that of any particular operating system. Your OS's file manager can't see the tracks as it sees normal files on a data CD, so you either need to trick your operating system into seeing the tracks' file "handles" as actual WAV or AIFF files, or use a special utility to read the raw data from the audio CD and turn it into a WAV or AIFF file. Because special techniques or tools are required and you're not doing a straight file copy, another name for the process was required. No one seems to know where the term "ripping" originated, but it sounds intuitive and has been floating around in the computer vernacular for many years. Don't worry -- ripping is a very simple process, and many tools completely hide the process for you, so you may not need to think about it at all.

You'll find CDDB lookups so powerful that you probably won't want to use an encoder without this feature. All the encoders featured in this chapter contain CDDB. By using a CDDB-savvy encoder, you can have meaningful ID3 tags (covered later in this chapter) inserted into your MP3 files automatically, rather than having to enter them by hand.

8.4.1.2. Getting started

8.4.2.1. Selecting tracks

8.4.2.2. Choosing your encoding options

Figure 8-9. AudioCatalyst's Preferences dialog, showing the preferred, default settings: constant bitrate, joint stereo, 128 Kbps.

These default settings have emerged as the general standard with which the majority of MP3 files on the Internet are encoded, though 128 Kbps won't give you fidelity high enough to satisfy demanding listeners. Remember, the size of an MP3 file encoded at 128 Kbps is around 11 times smaller than the original, uncompressed audio file, and maintains a sound quality comparable to CDs. We recommend 160 Kbps for most purposes. Just remember: the higher the bitrate, the better the audio quality and the bigger the file.

8.4.2.3. 128 Kbps Internet standard

Table 8-1. Results of encoding at different bitrates

8.4.2.4. Working with ID3 tags

Figure 8-10. Use the Track Information window to include output filename, title, artist, and album.

Notes on numbering   If you're encoding your own albums, it's a good idea to include track numbers from the CD in the filenames themselves. Without them, the files will appear in the encoding output directory in alphabetical order, rather than in album order. But an album is a complete entity, not just a pile of singles. Artists put a great deal of effort into determining the ideal order in which tracks should be heard. If you choose to respect this prerogative of the artist, have your encoder prepend track numbers to the filenames so they appear in Explorer/Finder/Tracker in the proper order. When you drag the folder onto your MP3 player, you'll hear the album as it was meant to be heard, not willy-nilly. And remember: if there are more than nine tracks on the album, you'll need to make sure the encoder uses "01" rather than simply "1." Otherwise, your computer will order track 10 before track 1, and so on. To control this behavior in AudioCatalyst, look for the Track Number checkbox in the Naming section of AudioCatalyst's Settings panel.

8.4.2.5. CDDB database support

If you encounter a CD that can't be found in the CDDB (though this is quite rare), you can enter the album, artist, and track names manually and have them uploaded to the CDDB. Once approved by human editors, the listing for that CD will be accessible to others. Be advised that once you enter the information into the CDDB database, the entry becomes the property of CDDB.

8.4.2.6. Encode

8.4.2.7. Play

Figure 8-11. Before you can play your new MP3 files, you must click on SetPlayer and select the player you want Audio Catalyst to launch.

8.4.3.1. Selecting tracks

Blame it on the Rio -- and other MP3 hardware   Diamond's Rio player is a compact, portable music player capable of playing MP3 music files downloaded from the Internet or created from a CD or other digital audio source. This type of device signals a new era in personal music listening.   The player is about the size of a deck of cards and roughly the same weight. Even better, it has no moving parts so it won't skip, which is an important feature for people who use portable devices while driving or exercising. Because the device is energy-efficient, a single AA battery will power the Rio for up to 12 hours.   The low-end version of the Rio comes with 32 MB of rewriteable, built-in flash memory that holds about 30 to 35 minutes of 128 Kbps MP3 audio. External flash memory cards can increase playing time and are available where you purchase the Rio.   User accounts of the Rio in action are largely positive. Like the Sony Walkman of old, the Rio seems to be defining a lifestyle. With music moving from disc to chip, the Rio was the first of many players ushering in the new era of file-based music consumption. Samsung, Sony, Fisher, and Sanyo have introduced MP3 players similar to the Rio, as well as a new line-up of other personal home and car audio players.   Another product of interest is called the Personal Jukebox PJB-100 from HanGo, a Korean manufacturer. This product holds over 1,000 hours of music on a 4.5 GB internal hard drive. The beauty of this product is that it not only can it store so much music (roughly 3.2 days of continuous, nonrepeating music, assuming 128 Kbps files), but it also includes other handy features. It features a built-in organizer, which is ID3-ready, allowing easy access and categorization of your music titles from http://www.cddb.com databases, including song title, artist, album, and other information. HanGo's Personal Jukebox, like similar products, includes its own ripping/encoding utility.   Yet another product, the Yamakawa AVPhile 715 player, has taken the concept one step further and included the ability to play back multiple formats of audio and video. Besides playback of MP3 files, this unit will play back DVD, CD, VCD (MPEG-1 video), and SVCD (MPEG-1 supervideo) files. This type of player paves the way for a centralized player that is connected to the Internet and will play all types of media in your home (or anywhere else for that matter).   Beyond these new products, larger companies such as Sony, Sanyo, and Fisher have released next-generation portable and home players. These devices play both MP3 and other, more secure file formats and are destined to be compliant with SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative), which will give music retailers a modicum of security against piracy. One such device is the sleek and slender Sony Music Clip. It can hold 64 MB of MP3s (actually, the unit converts your MP3s into the less common but more efficient ATRAC format) and has a futuristic look, like a small microphone or fountain pen. However these product lines continue, the direction has been established. Future MP3 hardware devices will be smaller, play longer, and hold more music than previous generations of this new technology.

8.4.3.2. Specify encoding quality

8.4.3.3. Encode

8.4.3.4. Play

When you have highlighted all the tracks you want to add to the database, click OK. The database window will come up again with the list of the tracks you selected. Simply double-click the tracks to add them to the current playlist. When you've finished adding MP3 files to the database, you can hear any of them by clicking the Play button.

8.4.3.5. CDDB database support

Figure 8-13. The CDDB web site features track information for a variety of CDs from around the world.